Batman (TV Show)

''Batman'' is an American live action television series, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin – two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of archvillains. It is known for its camp style, upbeat theme music, and its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality (aimed at its largely teenage audience). This included championing the importance of using seat belts, doing homework, eating vegetables, and drinking milk. It was described by executive producer William Dozier as the only situation comedy on the air without a laugh track. The 120 episodes aired on the ABC network for three seasons from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968, twice weekly during the first two seasons, and weekly for the third. In 2016, television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked ''Batman'' as the 82nd greatest American television show of all time. A companion feature film was released in 1966 between the first and second seasons of the TV show.

''Batman'' held the record for the longest running live action superhero series in terms of episodes until ''Smallville'' in 2011.

Overview

The series focuses on Batman and Robin as they defend Gotham City from its various criminals. Although the lives of their alter-egos, millionaire Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson are frequently shown, it is usually only briefly, in the context of their being called away on superhero business or in circumstances where they need to employ their public identities to assist in their crime-fighting. The "Dynamic Duo" typically comes to the aid of the Gotham City Police upon the latter being stumped by a supervillain, who was accompanied in his/her appearances by several henchmen and an attractive female companion. Throughout each episode, Batman and Robin follow a series of seemingly improbable clues (also known as "bat logic") to discover the supervillain's plan, then figure out how to thwart that plan and capture the criminal.

For the first two seasons, ''Batman'' aired twice a week on consecutive nights. Every story is a two-parter, except for two three-parters featuring villainous team ups (the Joker and the Penguin, then the Penguin and Marsha, Queen of Diamonds) in the second season. The titles of each multi-part story usually rhyme. The third and final season, which aired one episode a week and introduced Yvonne Craig as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, consist of self-contained stories. Each third season story ends with a teaser featuring the next episode's guest villain, except for the series finale. The cliffhangers between multiple-part stories consist of villains holding someone captive, usually Batman or Robin, with the captive(s) being threatened by death, serious injury, or another fate. These cliffhangers are resolved early in the follow-up episode with Batman and Robin getting themselves out of every trap.

Ostensibly a crime series, the style of the show is intentionally campy and tongue-in-cheek. It exaggerates situations and plays them for laughs, though the characters take the absurd situations very seriously.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Regular cast

* Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman:
A multi-millionaire industrialist whose parents were murdered when he was a child and who now secretly uses his vast fortune to fight crime as the masked crime fighter Batman. Producer William Dozier cast Adam West in the role after seeing him perform as the James Bond-like spy Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik television advertisement. Lyle Waggoner had screen-tested for the role, though West ultimately won out because, it was said, he was the only person who could deliver his lines with a straight face. West later voiced an animated version of the title character on ''The New Adventures of Batman''.
* Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin:
Batman's sidekick, dubbed the "Boy Wonder": a high school student noted for his recurring interjections in the form of "Holy ________, Batman!" The series avoids referencing Robin's origins as Bruce Wayne's fellow "crime orphan", as whose legal guardian the courts appoint Bruce. Ward voiced an animated version of this character on ''The New Adventures of Batman''. Since the death of Adam West on June 9, 2017, Burt Ward is now the only surviving main ''Batman'' cast member.
* Alan Napier as Alfred:
Batman's loyal butler and Batgirl's discreet confidant. He is the only person who knows the true identities of Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon.
* Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon:
The Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and one of Batman's two major police contacts. He summons the Dynamic Duo via the Batphone or the Bat Signal.
* Stafford Repp as Chief O'Hara:
Gotham City's Chief of Police, and Batman's other major police contact. The character was created by Semple for the series, as someone for Gordon to talk to, and later briefly added to the comics. In 2013, DC revealed this incarnation's first name to be "Miles" in their ''Batman' 66'' comics.
* Madge Blake as Harriet Cooper:
Dick Grayson's maternal aunt. She first appeared in the comics, two years before the series premiered, to give Bruce and Dick a reason to be secretive about their dual identities.
* Yvonne Craig as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl:
Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Gotham City librarian and crime fighting partner for Batman and Robin for the third season. Occasionally, this threesome was nicknamed the "Terrific Trio".
* William Dozier as Narrator (uncredited).

According to Adam West's memoir, ''Back to the Batcave'', his first exposure to the series concept was through reading a sample script in which Batman enters a nightclub in his complete costume and requests a booth near the wall, as he "shouldn't wish to attract attention". It was the scrupulously formal dialogue, and the way that Batman earnestly believed he could avoid standing out while wearing a skintight blue-and-grey costume, that convinced West of the character's comic potential.

Recurring villains

* Cesar Romero as The Joker:
A clown-themed, prank-loving villain and Batman's archenemy, who leaves behind jokes as clues to his next crime.
* Burgess Meredith as The Penguin:
A penguin-themed gentleman thief who commits crimes using multipurpose umbrellas.
* Frank Gorshin (Seasons 1–3), John Astin (Season 2) as The Riddler:
A criminal who leaves behind riddles as clues to his crimes.
* Julie Newmar (Seasons 1–2), Lee Meriwether (Movie) and Eartha Kitt (Season 3) as The Catwoman:
A cat-themed jewel thief and cat burglar in a complicated love-hate relationship with Batman.
* Victor Buono as Professor William McElroy / King Tut:
An Egyptologist who developed a split personality after being struck on the head during a student protest. Each time he is hit on the head, he switches between the personalities of a university professor and a reincarnated version of the pharaoh Tutankhamun.
* George Sanders (Season 1), Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach (Season 2) as Dr. Art Schivel / Mr. Freeze:
A mad scientist who, after exposure to a freeze solution, now needs below-freezing temperatures to survive. His weapon of choice is a freeze-blast gun, capable of freezing its target solid. In his first appearance, the gun can also produce a heat/incendiary beam.
* David Wayne as Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter:
A formally dressed villain with an obsession for collecting hats (he steals the hats from his victims, then knocks them out with a mesmerizing ray that pops out of the top of his hat).
* Vincent Price as Egghead:
A smug, bald-headed genius whose crimes and speech patterns involve eggs.
* Carolyn Jones as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds:
A criminal with a fondness for jewelry.
* Cliff Robertson as Shame:
A Western-themed villain, whose partners at various times include Okie Annie and Calamity Jan. The three of them spoof famous Western characters from the movies (namely Shane, Annie Oakley, and Calamity Jane).
* Anne Baxter as Olga, Queen of the Cossacks:
A Russian villainess often paired with Egghead. Before this role, Baxter first appears in one story as "Zelda the Great", a magician criminal.
* Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac:
A gangster with a fondness for flowers.

Producers did develop several tentative scripts for Two-Face, but never produced any of them. Clint Eastwood was allegedly considered for the role shortly before the series was cancelled.

Production

Origin

In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions optioned the television rights to the comic book ''Batman'' and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show, much like '' Adventures of Superman'' and ''The Lone Ranger'', to air on CBS on Saturday mornings.

East Coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in his childhood, contacted ABC executives Harve Bennett and Edgar J. Scherick, who were already considering developing a television series based on a comic-strip action hero, to suggest a prime-time ''Batman'' series in the hip and fun style of ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC Comics quickly reobtained rights and made the deal with ABC, which farmed the rights out to 20th Century Fox to produce the series.

In turn, 20th Century Fox handed the project to William Dozier and his production company, Greenway Productions. ABC and Fox were expecting a hip and fun—yet still serious—adventure show. However, Dozier, who had never before read comic books, concluded, after reading several Batman comics for research, that the only way to make the show work was to do it as a pop-art campy comedy. Originally, espionage novelist Eric Ambler was to have scripted a TV movie that would launch the television series, but he dropped out after learning of Dozier's campy comedy approach. Eventually, two sets of screen tests were filmed, one with Adam West and Burt Ward and the other with Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, with West and Ward winning the roles.

Season 1

Lorenzo Semple Jr. had signed on as head scriptwriter. He wrote the pilot script, and generally wrote in a pop-art adventure style. Stanley Ralph Ross, Stanford Sherman, and Charles Hoffman were script writers who generally leaned more toward campy comedy, and in Ross's case, sometimes outright slapstick and satire. It was originally intended as a one-hour show, but ABC changed the premiere date from Fall 1966 to January of that year. With the network having only two early-evening half-hour time slots available, the show was split into two parts, to air twice a week in 30-minute installments on Wednesdays and Thursdays. A cliffhanger connected the two episodes, echoing the old movie serials.

Some ABC affiliates were not happy that ABC included a fourth commercial minute in every episode of ''Batman''. One affiliate refused to air the series. The network insisted it needed the extra advertising revenue.

The Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, and the Mad Hatter, villains who originated in the comic books, all appeared in the series, the plots for which were deliberately villain-driven. According to the producers, Frank Gorshin was selected to portray Riddler due to the fact that he was a Batman fan since childhood. Catwoman was portrayed by three different actresses during the series run: by Julie Newmar in the first two seasons, by Lee Meriwether in the feature film based on the series, and by Eartha Kitt in the third and final season.

The show was extraordinarily popular, and was considered "the biggest TV phenomenon of the mid-1960s".

Season 2

Semple's participation in the series decreased in the second season. In his autobiography ''Back to the Batcave'' Adam West explained to Jeff Rovin – to whom he dictated the autobiography after rejecting an offer to contribute to ''The Official "Batman" Batbook'' written by Joel Eisner – that when work on the second season commenced following the completion of the feature film, Dozier, his immediate deputy Howie Horwitz, and the rest of the cast and crew rushed their preparation. Thus, they failed to give themselves enough time to determine what they wanted to do with the series during season two.

John Astin replaced Frank Gorshin as The Riddler for a pair of episodes when Gorshin's new agents at William Morris demanded more money.

Season 3

By season three, ratings were falling and the future of the series seemed uncertain. To attract new viewers, Dozier opted to introduce a female character. He came up with the idea of using Batgirl, who in her civilian identity would be Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara, and asked the editor of the Batman comics to further develop the character (who had made her debut in a 1966 issue of ''Detective Comics''). To convince ABC executives to introduce Batgirl as a regular on the show, a promotional short featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as Killer Moth was produced. Batgirl was the first Superheroine to appear in an ongoing capacity on television. The show was reduced to once a week, with mostly self-contained episodes, although the following week's villain would be introduced in a tag at the end of each episode, similar to a soap opera. Accordingly, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were mostly eliminated, most episodes ending with him encouraging viewers to watch next week.Adam West, dictating ''Back to the Batcave'' to Jeff Rovin, admitted to having resented the development; in his words: "We were now calculating and titillating. These kinds of things are always short-term solutions to problems".

Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season, due to Madge Blake's poor health and the issue of trying to fit so many characters (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, and a guest villain) into a half-hour episode. Another cast change during the final season was replacing Julie Newmar, who had been a popular recurring guest villain as the Catwoman during the first two seasons. Singer-actress Eartha Kitt assumed the role for season three, as Newmar was working on the film ''Mackenna's Gold'' at that time and thus unable to appear. In the United States, Kitt's performance in the series marked the second mainstream television success of a black female, following Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and continued breaking the racial boundaries of the time. Kitt's performance as Catwoman would also, later, inspire Halle Berry's portrayal of the character in the 2004 film ''Catwoman'', in which Berry would mimic Kitt's purrs. Frank Gorshin, the original actor to play the Riddler, returned after a one-season hiatus, during which John Astin made one appearance in the role.

The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of surrealism. In addition, the third season was much more topical, with references to hippies, mods, and distinctive 1960s slang, which the previous two seasons had avoided.

Episode format

As head scriptwriter, Lorenzo Semple wrote four episodes himself and established a series of "Bat-rules" for the freelance writers working under him. The show's campiness was played up in elements, including the design of the villains, dialogue and in signs appearing on various props. Batman would frequently reveal one of his many crime-fighting gadgets, which were usually given a ridiculous-sounding name, such as Shark Repellant Bat-Spray or Extra-Strong Bat-Knockout Gas. The series used a narrator (executive producer William Dozier, uncredited) who would end the cliffhanger episodes by intoning, "Tune in tomorrow – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!" During the climactic fistfights in each episode, the punches and other impacts were punctuated by onomatopoeia (sound effects such as "POW!", "BAM!", "ZONK!") superimposed on the screen, as in comic-book fight scenes.

A typical story begins with a villain's caper (stealing a fabulous treasure, kidnapping a prominent person, attempting to take over Gotham City, etc). At police headquarters, Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara deduce the villain's identity, admit they're outclassed and gaze reverently at the Batphone. At "stately Wayne Manor", Alfred (Wayne's butler) answers the Batphone and calls Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson away from an oblivious Aunt Harriet with a humorously transparent excuse. Batman and Robin race the Batmobile to police headquarters and begin to work on the case. Batman and Robin locate the villain, lose in a brawl and are left alone in a ridiculously complex deathtrap. The episode ends in a cliffhanger. The next episode resolves the cliffhanger in a comically improbable fashion. The same general plot pattern of investigation and confrontation repeats until another major brawl that defeats the villain.

Cancellation

Near the end of the third season, ratings had dropped significantly, and ABC cancelled the show. NBC agreed to take over the series, but before it could do so, it was discovered that hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of ''Batman'' sets had been destroyed. Rather than rebuild the sets, NBC dropped the project. Reruns of the series have been seen on a regular basis in the United States. They are currently shown on the classic TV networks TeleXitos, weekdays dubbed in Spanish, as well as Saturday mornings on IFC. As of 2022, the series can be found on the streaming app Tubi. It also appears Saturday nights on most MeTv stations in the U.S.A.

Camera shots

From the beginning, cameras were purposely placed out of level with the set (known as "Dutch tilt"), and characters were filmed from high and low angles. This technique was most often used when filming on the set of a villain's lair to lend a surreal, comic-book quality to the scenes, as well as to imply or merely remind the viewer that the crooks were crooked.

Batmobile

The original Batmobile from the 1960s TV series was auctioned on January 19, 2013, at the Barrett-Jackson auction house in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was sold for $4.2 million.

Tie-in music

Several cast members recorded music tied into the series. Adam West released a single titled "Miranda", a country-tinged pop song that he actually performed in costume during live appearances in the 1960s. Frank Gorshin released a song titled "The Riddler", which was composed and arranged by Mel Tormé. Burgess Meredith recorded a spoken-word single called "The Escape" backed with "The Capture", which consisted of the Penguin narrating his recent crime spree to a jazz beat. Burt Ward recorded a song called "Boy Wonder, I Love You", written and arranged by Frank Zappa.

In 1966, ''Batman: The Exclusive Original Soundtrack Album'' was released on LP, featuring music by Nelson Riddle and snippets of dialogue from Adam West, Burt Ward, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Anne Baxter (as Zelda the Great) and George Sanders (the first Mr. Freeze). The "Batman Theme" was included, along with titles like "Batusi A Go! Go!", "Batman Thaws Mr. Freeze", and "Batman Blues". It was reissued later on compact disc. Neal Hefti, who wrote the iconic theme song for the series, also released a soundtrack album in 1966, ''Batman Theme and 11 Hefti Bat Songs''.

Release

International broadcast

Home media

In January 2014, television host Conan O'Brien posted on his Twitter account, and Warner Bros. later confirmed, that Warner Bros. would release an official DVD and Blu-ray boxed set of the complete series sometime the same year. In April, the website tvshowsondvd.com quoted Burt Ward in saying that Warner Bros. would release the complete series on November 11, 2014, in time for the holiday season under license from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and that Adam West and he were doing special features for the release.

Prior to the announcement, multiple conflicting reports were given for the reason the series had not been released officially. These included:
* Negotiations between DC Comics (and parent company Warner Bros.), owners of the Batman character and 20th Century Fox Television (which in 2019 became a unit of Disney Television Studios, a part of The Walt Disney Company which own DC Entertainment rivals, Marvel Entertainment).From
* Fox (which owns the footage) and DC Comics (owner of the characters, and sister company of Warner Bros.) were in the process of sorting out the legalities and licensing situations for this release. Other license issues were potentially involved, as well, such as music.

* Greenway/ABC/Fox rights issues: The ''Batman'' series was conceived as an equal partnership between William Dozier's Greenway Productions and Fox in 1964, before Fox entered into a separate agreement with ABC to produce the series in 1965. With three companies involved almost from the outset, some speculation indicated these rights were tangled even before the DC Comics character ownership rights were to be considered. In 2006, Deborah Dozier Potter, "the successor-in-interest to Greenway Productions" sued Fox for allegedly withholding monies under the Fox/ABC agreement. Dozier Potter further claimed that this came to her attention when, in March 2005, "she considered releasing the series on DVD", implying that (from her perspective at least) Greenway/Dozier Potter had some say in the matter of potential DVD release of the series. The case was resolved/dismissed in November 2007. In February 2005, John Stacks had approached Deborah Dozier Potter to market the series on DVD. There were many offers and lots of interest in the release of the series, as can be read in Joel Eisner's ''The Official Batbook Revised Bat Edition 2008''.The relevant passage reads: "The lawsuit filed by Debra Dozier Potter was dismissed with prejudice on 11/26/07. Furthermore, a notice of unconditional settlement was filed by the Plaintff on 11/19/07. The case is DEBORAH DOZIER POTTER VS TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION Case No BC357067". Soon after, Classic Media bought out the Dozier estate's interest in the series, which they then sold to Fox in the early years of the 2010s.
* Other complications/rights issues:
** Christopher D. Heer, writing at the "1966 Batman Message Board", clarified a quote by moderator Lee Kirkham, noting that there may have been the need for complicated deals regarding the numerous cameos, since "...at least some of the cameos were done as uncredited, unpaid walk-ons – which means that Fox does NOT have home video clearances for them. Either those scenes would have to be cut or an agreement reached with the actors".
** Kirkham's initial quote also noted that, alongside music clearance issues, there could also have been problems over some of the costumes, and the original Batmobile:
::"It may surprise you, but then there are also rights issues concerning the design of the unique Batmobile design used in the show, and possibly a separate issue regarding some of the costumes as well!"

The series, under the Fox/ABC deal, is still in syndication, and regularly shown on a number of channels around the world, currently appearing in the United States on Me-TV and IFC . Until 2014, only the 1966 feature film was available on DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for nonbroadcast viewing in North America. This affected the 2003 television movie reunion '' Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt'', also released to DVD, which was able to make use of footage only from the 1966 movie.

With ''Batman'' being unavailable for home-video release until 2014, an unusual situation occurred in which material that would be considered DVD featurettes was released separately. In 2004, Image Entertainment released ''Holy Batmania'', a two-DVD set that included documentaries on the making of the series, as well as rare footage such as the original screen tests of the cast and Lyle Waggoner. In 2008, Adam West released a privately issued DVD with the tongue-in-cheek title ''Adam West Naked'' for which he recorded anecdotes regarding all 120 episodes of the series. In 2013, PBS aired an episode of ''Pioneers of Television'' called "Superheroes" that featured interviews with Adam West and Burt Ward, and talked about the 1960s TV series. It was released on DVD March 11 the same year.

Also in 2013, PBS produced and transmitted a documentary titled ''Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle''. This documentary talked a little bit about the series and included an interview with Adam West.

Warner Bros. released the full 120-episode ''Batman'' collection on Blu-ray and DVD on November 11, 2014 (under license from 20th Century Fox) with a variety of extras including a miniature Batmobile, a 32-page episode guide, and The ''Adam West Scrapbook''. A second box set released on Warner Bros.' own "batmanondvd" website replaces the Batmobile, ''The Adam West Scrapbook'', and the trading cards with a letter from Adam West, a script from the episode "The Joker is Wild" and a bonus box containing the movie and the "Adam West Naked" documentary. This series is also available at the Google Play Store, and iTunes Store.

Reception

On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the series as a whole has received an approval rating of 72%. Additionally, the first season received an approval rating of 50%, based on twenty-two reviews, its consensus reads, "Holy mixed reception, Batman! - this deadpan farce translates the beloved comic strip with the punch of an onomatopoeia panel, but its overload of camp can be as grating as it is amusing." While the third season received an approval rating of 94%, based on sixteen reviews, its consensus reads, "Fierce females shook up the dynamic duo in the final season of Batman with plenty of technicolor "POW!""

Television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked ''Batman'' as the 82nd greatest American television show of all time in their 2016 book titled ''TV (The Book)'', stating that "West's performance, the brilliance of which has required decades to be properly recognized, played as if series creator William Dozier and chief developer Lorenzo Semple Jr., had taken the establishment's fantasy of itself and dolled it up in tights and a cape. The anarchic gangs of supervillains and henchmen that kept trying to capture or destroy Gotham City stood in for the forces of chaos that kept threatening to engulf so-called civilized America throughout the sixties, only made colorfully grotesque and knowingly silly". In 1997, ''TV Guide'' ranked the episodes "The Purr-fect Crime" and "Better Luck Next Time" #86 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. In 2009, "Better Luck Next Time" was ranked No. 72.

Reunions and role reprisals

* In 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward returned as voice actors for the second Filmation-produced animated series, ''The New Adventures of Batman''.
* In 1979, West, Ward, and Frank Gorshin reunited and reprised their respective roles on NBC for Hanna-Barbera's two ''Legends of the Superheroes'' television specials.
* In the 1980s, several cast members teamed up for a series of celebrity editions of ''Family Feud''. The participants were West, Ward, Yvonne Craig, Lee Meriwether, and Vincent Price.
* In 1984, West would once again reprise his role as Batman in animated form when he succeeded Olan Soule in the final two seasons of ''Super Friends''.
* November 1985 would see several cast members reunited on the syndicated afternoon talk show ''America'', as West, Ward, Julie Newmar, Vincent Price, Cesar Romero, Terry Moore, Liberace, Eartha Kitt and Zsa Zsa Gabor (Yvonne Craig does not appear) were reunited along with the original Batmobile which was still covered with flocking from its tours since the 1970s. In the opening scene, West and Ward were in the Batmobile from an actual TV episode. They are segued from the TV film episode to the live stage again inside the Batmobile. They are introduced by Ricardo Montalban. Ward makes a request he would like to have a 15th anniversary reunion of the Batman Class of 1968.
* In 1997, West returned to the role of the Batman for the first time in 12 years voicing the Caped Crusader/Spruce Wayne in the animated short ''Boo Wonder''. It was the fourth segment of episode 93 (season 5) of ''Animaniacs'' produced by Warner Bros. It was a parody of the 1966 ''Batman'' TV series with ''Animaniacs'' character Chicken Boo replacing Robin the Boy Wonder.
* In 2002, West and Ward did their voice-over, and reprised their roles as Batman and Robin in an episode of ''The Simpsons'', "Large Marge". Bart Simpson with his friend, Milhouse Van Houten watched an old Batman episode as the dynamic duo were trapped on a carousel by Krusty the Clown as ClownFace. Batman and Robin made their escapes, thanks to their Bat Carousel Reversal Spray. The police arrested ClownFace and his henchmen.
* In 2003, West and Ward reunited for a tongue-in-cheek television movie titled '' Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt'' which combined dramatized recreations of the filming of the original series (with younger actors standing in for the stars), with modern footage of West and Ward searching for a stolen Batmobile. The film included cameo appearances by Newmar, Gorshin, and Lee Meriwether, as well as Lyle Waggoner, who had been an early candidate for the role of Batman. Yvonne Craig did not appear in the movie—she reportedly disliked the script. The movie was released on DVD in May 2005.
* In 2005, West again returned to the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne for the Digital Animation & Visual Effects (DAVE) School released ''Batman: New Times'', a short CGI film in which all characters were portrayed as Minimates (predating the Lego film craze). In addition to West, other notable voice actors included Mark Hamill as The Joker, Courtney Thorne-Smith as Catwoman and Dick Van Dyke as Commissioner Gordon.
* Ward reprised his role as Dick Grayson / Robin in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

Spin-offs and sequels

''Batman'' (1966 film)

A film based on the television show, ''Batman'', was released in 1966. The film was originally intended to be produced before the series as a way to introduce the series to the public. However, the series' premiere was moved up and the film was forced to wait until the summer hiatus after the first season. The film was produced quickly to get into theatres prior to the start of season two of the television series.

The film did not initially perform well in theaters. Originally, the movie had been conceived to help sell the television series abroad, but the success of the series in the United States was sufficient publicity. The film was shot after season one was filmed. The movie's budget allowed for producers to build the Batboat and lease a helicopter that would be made into the Batcopter, both of which were used in the second and third seasons of the television show.

''Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders''

West and Ward announced at the Mad Monster Party that one or two ''Batman'' animated movies would be released in 2016 with the two doing voiced roles as their characters for the show's 50th anniversary along with Julie Newmar returning.

'' Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders'' was released on Digital HD and Digital Media on October 11, 2016, and on DVD and Blu-ray November 1.

''Batman vs. Two-Face''

A sequel to ''Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders'' called ''Batman vs. Two-Face'' was released on October 10, 2017. The film starred William Shatner voicing Two-Face as the main antagonist. Adam West died before it was released, but did complete his voiceover work before his passing. This was one of Adam West's final performances before he died from leukemia.

''Batman '66''

In 2013, DC began publication of ''Batman '66'', a comic book series telling all-new stories set in the world of the 1966–68 TV series. Jeff Parker writes the series, which features cover art by Mike Allred and interior art by different artists each issue. In the course of this series, the Bookworm, the Minstrel, Sandman, Olga Queen of the Cossacks, Zelda The Great, Shame, and Marsha Queen of Diamonds all have their first appearance in Batman comics. Penguin, Joker, Riddler, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze also appear in the series. Issue #3 of ''Batman '66'' introduced the Red Hood and Dr. Holly Quinn into the series continuity. In issue #7, Batman used a new vehicle, the Bat-Jet, to follow False-Face to Mount Rushmore. The series was to have introduced Killer Croc into the continuity, as well as a new villainess named Cleopatra. Issues #23 through #28 were mainly dedicated to introducing villains from the comics that either were not used, such as Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy and Scarecrow, or did not exist at the time, such as Ra's al Ghul, Bane, the Harlequin (Dr. Quinn's criminal persona) and Killer Croc (who was introduced earlier as one of King Tut's henchmen, but gained a focus story). The first five issues were compiled into the ''Batman '66 Vol. 1'' trade paperback in April 2014. Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman likewise worked on a Batman and Green Hornet crossover, titled ''Batman '66 meets The Green Hornet''. The six-issue miniseries began publication in June 2014. Jeff Parker wrote a Batman and ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' team-up titled ''Batman '66 meets The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' released in 2016. Ian Edginton wrote a Batman team-up with John Steed and Emma Peel of '' The Avengers'' titled ''Batman '66 Meets Steed and Mrs. Peel''. Batman teams up with Wonder Woman in the crossover team up ''Batman' 66 Meets Wonder Woman '77'' writing by both Parker and Marc Andreyko. In a reversal of sorts, Archie Comics

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